“Gobsmacked”: family’s amazement as anonymous donor gives £800 to help replace terminally ill grandfather’s mobility scooter

Yesterday (November 16), the Post told the story of terminally ill grandfather, John Annereau from Ashton-on-Ribble, who feared spending his final months stuck inside after vandals “trashed” his mobility scooter.
By Aimee Seddon
Published 17th Nov 2022, 14:50 GMT
Updated 17th Nov 2022, 14:59 GMT
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Reliant on the scooter to get around and unable to afford the cost of a repair or replacement, 65-year-old John and his family were facing the very real prospect of him never being able to leave his home again.

However, since the article went live, an anonymous individual has donated £805 to the GoFundMe set up by John’s ex-wife Cate Brassington to help him buy a new scooter.

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Reacting to the news John said: “It is really kind of them, you don’t expect people to do things like that, I’m a bit gobsmacked really! It just shows you there are people that care. Whoever it is, to do that in this day and age, when people don’t seem to give a damn, it’s a really good thing to do.”

Thieves had wrecked terminally ill John Annereau's mobility scooter but now his GoFundMe has raised over £1000.Thieves had wrecked terminally ill John Annereau's mobility scooter but now his GoFundMe has raised over £1000.
Thieves had wrecked terminally ill John Annereau's mobility scooter but now his GoFundMe has raised over £1000.

Not only does the donation go a long way towards the replacement of the scooter, but even better than that, it covers the cost of repairs, which is now all the scooter needs.

In an update posted to GoFundMe today, Cate wrote: “We have had some good news! Following an inspection by engineers we are pleased to say its possible to repair John's scooter which is fantastic. Thankfully we now don't need to raise so much and need around £1000, still a huge amount but far more manageable.”

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Including the anonymous donation, the GoFundMe has now raised £1069, hopefully enough to cover the necessary repairs.

The family feared the scooter was beyond repair, but have been relieved to find out it can be.The family feared the scooter was beyond repair, but have been relieved to find out it can be.
The family feared the scooter was beyond repair, but have been relieved to find out it can be.
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Following the donation, Cate added: “I’m a bit gobsmacked, it’s not often I’m speechless but I’m just amazed. We are in such trying times, it's lovely to see that people are donating small amounts, but that just floored me this morning.

“It's possible now, not just that it can be repaired, but we were talking about the fact that it's outside and we need something in the way of chaining it to the ground, and that could potentially pay for that as well, and insurance maybe, which would be absolutely amazing. If the donations continue then we can do those things and he wouldn’t even have to worry about that in the future. It’s just amazing what one article can do.”